{"id":25340,"date":"2024-07-24T11:49:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T15:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/?post_type=resource&p=25340"},"modified":"2024-07-24T11:49:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T15:49:35","slug":"global-vision-trip-to-north-africa-inspires-send-network-church-planters-to-reach-both-their-neighbors-and-the-nations","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/global-vision-trip-to-north-africa-inspires-send-network-church-planters-to-reach-both-their-neighbors-and-the-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Vision Trip to North Africa inspires Send Network church planters to reach both their neighbors and the nations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kesevan Balasingham knows firsthand that he doesn\u2019t have to look far from his Toronto home to find a mission field. It\u2019s because he was once part of the mission field.<\/p>\n

Originally from Sri Lanka, Kesevan experienced life in three countries, learned four languages, became involved in gang violence, and was sentenced to nine years in prison all before he was 20 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I was incarcerated, God providentially placed a Bible in my hands, and I began to read the Bible for the first time,\u201d Kesevan shares, \u201cAnd in God\u2019s mercy, I never put it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Today, Kesevan is the pastor of Fellowship Church Rouge Park in Toronto, and it\u2019s his church\u2019s goal to help each member \u2014 from the college student to the single mother \u2014 find their missional pathway. This desire led Kesevan to participate in Send Network\u2019s Global Vision Trip to North Africa earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was with a unique group of pastors on this trip that live all over North America but had very diverse backgrounds. We had planters from Japan, Congo, Puerto Rico, Venezuela \u2026 it was very humbling to see how God brought a group of pastors from different nations to go to the nations to share the gospel,\u201d Kesevan shares.<\/p>\n

Church Planter Global Vision Trips are an initiative propelled by the partnership of Send Network with the International Mission Board (IMB) that enables church planters in North America to experience the nations by traveling to and learning from IMB missionary teams worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want Send Network churches to pursue a culture of reaching the nations from the very beginning,\u201d says Mike Laughrun, director of global engagement for Send Network. \u201cWe desire every Send Network planter and the churches they lead to know God\u2019s call to reach our neighbors nearby as well as the nations of the world. It\u2019s always our neighbors and<\/em> the nations,\u201d\u00a0he adds.<\/p>\n

As church planters spend time on the ground with seasoned missionary teams and national partners, they can learn more about missionary strategies to use in their own city and take back a global vision to share with their church.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the trip, I was reminded of the importance of prayer and gospel partnerships,\u201d says Kesevan, whose church started an internship program for young adults. \u201cAs I train future missionaries from our church, I want to train them in such a way that they are better prepared as we send them out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To that end, once he returned from the trip, Kesevan shared a presentation with his church, challenging congregants and specifically young people to consider God\u2019s calling on their lives to be a part of His global mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope is that God would use trips like this to birth leaders that we can identify, train, and develop, and then send out as missionaries in partnership with the IMB,\u201d Kesevan explains.<\/p>\n

92 percent of the planters who have participated in a Global Vision Trip had no previous experience with the IMB, shares Travis Ogle, executive vice president of Send Network. One of the goals of these trips is to help church planters form gospel partnerships with IMB missionaries and send mission teams from their churches in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deep dive into Southern Baptist cross-cultural church planting efforts overseas has affected how these church planters and their church members are now engaging their backyards with the gospel,\u201d says Chris Derry, the IMB\u2019s director of church and campus engagement, who co-leads the Global Vision Trips initiative alongside Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear updates on how they\u2019re studying their cities, looking for people groups, developing local partnerships, and adapting to new strategies to reach and disciple a generation longing for hope \u2014 all with a vision toward multiplication. Many have planned return trips for this year and next,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Kesevan believes that the next church planters in North Africa, just like the next church planters in Toronto, are yet to be discovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might be like me \u2014 lost in gangs or drugs \u2014 living a life of darkness. And God can use us to reach out and disciple them so they can reach their family and community and become the next church planter,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To discover how your church can reach your neighbors and<\/em> the nations through church planting, visit SendNetwork.com\/Mobilize.<\/a> To meet other pastors and ministry leaders joining God\u2019s activity to mobilize their church, and to learn from the top church-planting experts of today, register for a Send Network Gathering near you.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kesevan Balasingham knows firsthand that he doesn\u2019t have to look far from his Toronto home to …<\/p>\n

Global Vision Trip to North Africa inspires Send Network church planters to reach both their neighbors and the nations<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25341,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-25340","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGlobal Vision Trip to North Africa inspires Send Network church planters to reach both their neighbors and the nations - 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